Rivers Casino Portsmouth pays $275,000 for alleged gaming law violations

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Rivers Casino Portsmouth pays $275,000 for alleged gaming law violations
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PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Rivers Casino Portsmouth had to pay the Virginia Lottery $275,000 following a settlement signed by the two entities in March.

News 3 learned the two parties formed the agreement after the Virginia Lottery identified alleged violations of the Casino Gaming Law in January and February this year.

The Virginia Lottery is responsible for regulating casinos in the commonwealth.

According to the settlement agreement, "the Lottery informed the Casino of the Lottery's allegations at the casino, directly through its contractors and agents, had violated certain provisions of the Casino Gaming Law and the Lottery's related regulations prior to and after the Casino's opening on January 23, 2023."

The settlement statement from the Lottery does not specifically point out the actual violations, but it states they were related to "underage and voluntarily excluded persons, licensing requirements relating to slot machines and unauthorized games in play."

The settlement shows Kelly Gee, the executive director of the Virginia Lottery, proposed the settlement amount to avoid an administrative hearing.

The casino was required to remit the payment in 10 days to the Lottery for deposit into the Commonwealth's General Fund, according to the agreement's terms and conditions.

Rivers Casino Portsmouth sent the following statement to News 3:

“We take these matters very seriously and respect the decision of the Virginia Lottery Board. We cooperated fully and share the VLB’s commitment to compliance and regulatory vigilance.”

Rivers Casino Portsmouth made $23.6 million in March, according to the latest monthly gaming report from the Virginia Lottery shows.That’s down about a million dollars from February’s report, which showed $24,661,600.84 in revenue.